


Snowdrops on a Frosty Morn

by NebulousBoundsofGoodTaste



Category: Guardians of Childhood - William Joyce, Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Compliant, F/M, How Do I Tag, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, JACK FROST IS NIGHTLIGHT, M/M, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Short Chapters, Slow Burn, Slow To Update, Unrequited Love, first fic, i took some liberties
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2017-07-28
Packaged: 2018-11-13 14:44:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11187306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NebulousBoundsofGoodTaste/pseuds/NebulousBoundsofGoodTaste
Summary: Thousands of years ago, a boy of light defeated a man of shadows. Now, a young man of frost tries to understand.TAGS AND RATINGS WILL BE UPDATED AS I GO(AKA I need there to be a grand romance between Pitch and Nightlight/Jack Frost spanning the f***ing millennia. I also need Nightlight/Jack to be the smartest person in the room at any given time because let's face it, about 80% of the time in the movie, he was. And I also need Jack, Emily and Sandy to have tea parties the second Tuesday of every month.)





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, this is my first "published" fanfic. I'm going to try to have a schedule but I don't promise anything. Comments and criticisms are very welcome, and I hope you enjoy.

The Lunar Clipper pitched horribly as they felt the Fearlings strike once more. Nightlight placed the child in his care into his cot. The young Tsarevich was scared for the first time in his short life as he began to cry. Seeing those tears tore at the Guardian’s heart. Nightlight caught his tears in his white palms where they formed into a Diamond blade.

He held the dagger up to the light to examine it. It was sharp and deadly. The Guardian looked from the blade to the young child and back again.

_Well, this is new. A handy thing, certainly. A Diamond Dagger can pierce through anything…_

What he had to do now hit him in a flash and his heart grew cold from the very thought. He did not want to kill Kozmotis. He did not want to leave the Tsarevich.

_And yet…_

He placed a hand on Lunar’s cheek. “Goodbye my friend,” he said quietly.

His ward looked up at him in confusion but then seemed to understand. Nightlight turned to the Luna Mice present in the room.

“Take care of him,” Nightlight instructed.

The mice nodded at the soldier. Nightlight turned and resolutely walked out of the room, the diamond dagger clenched firmly in his hand.

When he got above deck his heart sank even further if that was even possible. A third of the deck was on fire, eclipsing the starlight. He launched himself at the Fearlings, slicing through them with an animosity unbefitting of the child he appeared to be. The boy soldier looked around for the Tsar and Tsarina, praying they were still alive, but when he was unable to find them on the Clipper, he focused on driving the darkness back onto the Galleon.  

The Fearlings swarm him but they cannot touch him. They cannot touch his light. And they will not touch the one he has vowed to protect. He put his all into driving them back. Back to the Galleon. Back to their master. Back to Kozmotis.

_Kozmotis. You deserve so much better than their prison, my friend._

Nightlight pushed and pushed and pushed them back, glowing brighter and brighter until even his armor was the white blue of starlight.

His light flared even more, fueled by his rage. He finally saw the Tsar and Tsarina. They had been captured and brought aboard the Nightmare Galleon. Kozmotis’ form was standing over them, a gleam of cruelty and hatred in his eyes. A gleam that did not belong.

There was nothing for it now. Their soldiers were outnumbered and slaughtered. The Tsar and Tsarina were captured. There was only one thing left for Nightlight to do.

He took a deep, shuddering breath and launched himself forward, dagger held out in front of him. He aimed straight for the heart of the beast.

_Forgive me, Kozmotis._

His dagger found its mark and there was a brilliant flash of light. A searing wave of heat followed it. Nightlight felt the winds rush past them as the Galleon fell onto the planet bellow in a fiery ball.

He was clinging to the dagger, not wanting to let go. He clung to Kozmotis’ form, terrified of letting go. He did not know which way was down, which way was up and where was the Lunar Clipper? All he could do is hope that the Tsarevich was safe, and hope that he had not killed Kozmotis.

With a sickening crash that signified their landing, they were plunged into darkness.

Nightlight opened his eyes and looked around the cavern they found themselves in. It was large and dark, and he was the only light. He was lying on Kozmotis’ chest, still holding on to the dagger with both hands, unable and unwilling to let go. That same dagger was lodged in Kozmotis’ heart, and he could feel it beating through the mineral. He looked past to see the face of a man that was so dear to him.

Kozmotis looked calm and relaxed and himself in sleep. The shadows swirled around but many of them were forced out of his body by Nightlight’s blade and light. He almost looked like he did before the shadows claimed him, when he and Nightlight were just warriors fighting the darkness in an uneasy comradery.

_My dear Kozmotis. What has been done to you that only with a blade in your heart are you yourself again? Even if only in sleep. You did not deserve this._

_I know you would hate for me to say this but I could not bring myself to hate you when you were taken from us all. You told me once that if that should happen that I should hate you beyond all hatred but I could never._

Nightlight reached out and touched the sleeping face. Kozmotis seemed to be leaning into the touch ever so slightly.

_You did not ask for this, dearest. You were a hero and my dearest friend after the Tsarevitch.  But you had your duty and it consumed you. I had mine and it was to destroy you._

Nightlight sighed audibly, and cast a weary look around at the shadows orbiting them. How long would his light hold out against them before he froze?

_And now we are trapped together._

He sighed again, and let his head drop to Kozmotis’ chest.

_If we had more time, what could have been, my dear friend? It does not do me well to dwell on this. That way madness lies. And madness does not need help conquering my mind. For now, we sleep and maybe I can pretend that you felt the same before you were claimed by them. For now, and until I freeze, we lie together. I can feel Lunar is happy and safe from you, so at least there I did not fail._

And with that, the eternal boy of light closed his eyes, and forced himself to sleep.


	2. Jack Frost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thing 1: OH MY GOD THANK YOU FOR ALL THE KUDOS AND COMMENTS AND BOOKMARKS! I DIDN’T EXPECT THIS MANY OF YOU GUYS TO READ THIS!!!
> 
> Thing 2: I have decided to pull a Rick Riordan and have my chapter titles be the name of the character from who’s perspective I’m writing. Saves us all time, I think. There will probably be chapters from Nightlight’s perspective but he and Jack are still the same person, so if you see a chapter (or a few) called Nightlight just know I didn’t lie to you.
> 
> Thing 3: Not my best work...

It was dark. It was cold.

_Again._

He felt a pull up. Up. Up towards the light that snuk in under his eyelids. His limbs felt heavy, as though they were moving through something dense. Then he felt the press of a solid wall of cold that broke to let him through.

The light got brighter, and his limbs felt lighter. Lighter than air. He opened his eyes and saw the moon, big and blue and beautiful.

 ** _You are Jack Frost,_** said a voice in his head. A voice he recognised but was not his own. A voice that he knew was the moon.

_What?_

No response.

He felt himself growing heavier and heavier until his bare feet touched the frozen surface of the lake, and only then did he realise that he had been floating in mid-air. He looked down at himself. The skin of his hands contrasted sharply with the soaked brown of his – was that a cloak?

He looked around, trying to ascertain where he was. He was standing in the middle of a frozen lake. That frozen lake seemed to be in the middle of a forest. The shadows cast by the moon through the trees seemed off to him for some reason. He felt like they should not be that still. That they should be darker. That they should be doing something.

He shook that thought from his mind. It didn’t make sense that the shadows did not make sense. Instead he took a step. His foot touched something rough. He almost jumped. Looking down he saw a large stick with a hook on one end. He poked it with a toe and where he touched it glistened silver. It felt very familiar, so he picked it up.

As soon as both his hands touched the rough surface it began to glow so bright he had to look away, and he felt himself moved sideways as something erupted from the straight end. He looked down to see spirals of newly made frost on the surface of the lake.

He looked back to where he was holding the staff. Smooth ice was covering it now, colouring the wood a silvery-white blue.  

_Now this – this is new. A handy thing, certainly. Needs more testing though._

He straightened and cautiously approached a pair of trees. He slowly touched the crook of the staff to the trunk of one of them. Frost spiraled over the tree, covering the bark in beautiful patterns. He almost leapt for joy. It was beautiful. He repeated it to the other tree and the same thing happened.

Now he really did leap for joy. He ran across the ice, trailing frost in his wake. He slipped here and there but the exhilaration he felt did not let him dwell on it.

He ran and he ran and he ran. Until the whole lake was covered with beautiful spirals. And still he did not stop. He ran and ran, covering the trees and bushes on the bank in the same breathtaking pattern. And it was **fun**. It was a **thrill**. And it made him cry out in a broken, breathless laugh.

Without warning a strong gust of wind picked him up and flung him into the air, leaving him breathless. It swirled him round and round. Down and up and down again, making him dizzy, as he tried desperately to balance himself. He finally seemed to be able to stay upright and from a great height he could see the gorgeous spirals covering the entire surface of the lake.

A small breathless laugh escaped him. He had done that. He had made something so beautiful.

And then the wind dropped out from under him. He in turn dropped like a stone, hitting bough after bough on his way down until a particularly thick branch finally brought him to an abrupt stop.

The laughter bubbled out of him uncontrollably. This was **fun**. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt like this. He couldn’t remember anything for that matter. His laugh turned bitter but he didn’t stop laughing until distant lights caught his eye.

They were small and flickering but he could vaguely make out the dark shapes of houses. It was a small village. Maybe they could tell him where he was. Maybe then he’d remember.

He concentrated very hard on the movement of the air around him, feeling the way the wind tugged at him. All at once the wind grabbed him and hauled him into the air once more. The wind seemed to know where he wanted to go, and all he had to do was concentrate on staying up right and stable so that he didn’t tumble.

He touched down roughly, stumbling a lot, on the edge of the ring of houses. He straightened himself and brushed snow off his shoulders.

He turned to face the town with a grin. They might be able to help him remember. He waved to get the attention of a lady in a bonnet as she walked past, but she didn’t seem to notice. He shrugged and instead walked further into the village.

“Hello,” he said to a woman that walked right past him without sparing him a glance.

“Hello,” he said to a man who did the same.

 _Well that’s rude._ But he shrugged it off, and instead picked up his pace a bit and practically skipped over to where a man and a woman were sitting just outside the door of a house.

“Good evening ma’am,” he began but the bark of a dog drew his attention. He turned, to see a dog run right by him and a boy chasing the dog coming straight for him.

“Excuse me,” he said to the approaching lad, crouching down to be level with him, “could you tell me where I a-”

The agonising hollowness had him gasping for air. The boy had passed right through him, as if he were a ghost. Panic threatened to overwhelm him.

“Hello?!” But no one seemed to hear. A man passed through him, as if he wasn’t there. Then another. Then another. Terror gripped him. He had to get away.

The wind swept him up once more, feeling like an embrace as it carried him back to the lake.

It let him down gently, as he continued to gasp for air, his staff clutched tightly to his chest like a life line. His knees gave out as soon as the wind let go of him. His mind was buzzing but with what he could not tell.  

After what seemed like forever his breathing finally calmed and the running thoughts in his head slowed to where they could register.

_Why could they walk through me?_

_Am I a ghost?_

_Am I dead?_

_Am I cursed?_

_Am I –_

“Who are you?” said a woman’s voice, from his left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, sorry for how long I took to update. I foolishly decided to start writing this during my final exams for the semester and then there are renovations happening in my house and to be honest this chapter was kind of a pain to write ‘cause this is where I had to jam my head-cannons, the books and the movie together. Like I was literally trying to write this shot by shot from the start of the movie. But regardless, I hope you enjoyed this and hopefully the next chapter won’t take this long. 
> 
> (Weird side note: I’m so used to typing Nightwing that when I go to type Nightlight I have to mentally pause and correct myself -/(^ - ^)\\-)  
> (Less weird side note: I am currently hoping that I can stretch this out till the Jack Frost novel comes out in October 2018, but who knows)


End file.
